Islam and Politics (02 Jan 2018 NewAgeIslam.Com)

Citing History Does Not Legitimize Israel

By S. Mubashir Noor, New Age Islam

02 January 2018

Israel’s religio-historical claim to Jerusalem is problematic on many levels. One obvious issue is the widely accepted maxim that geographical borders are man-made. The Middle East especially as a thoroughfare for expanding empires saw land change hands many times over past millennia.

So if Israel wishes to invoke the primacy of historical rights, then Jerusalem rightfully belongs to the Lebanese. As a recent American Journal of Human Genetics study showed, modern Lebanese are the direct descendants of the ancient Canaanites who first called Palestine home. They were later conquered by the Israelites as writ in the Old Testament’s Book of Joshua.

U.S President Donald Trump’s recent decision to relocate the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem has sparked protests across the Islamic world. It has also revived the debate on how religio-historical claims that reek of revanchism should be evaluated in the post-Westphalian age where separation of church and state is near absolute.

My problem with Israel’s claim is two-fold. One, if we in principle accept the Zionist religio-historical argument about Jerusalem, does that not also sanitize the historical revanchism of extremist cults like the Islamic State (IS) and India’s Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS)? IS, after all, seeks to revive the caliphate that for centuries was the guiding star of Sunni Islam, while RSS affiliates flying proud the flag of “Hindutva” aim to eradicate all “foreign religions” from Indian soil.

Sure, IS has murdered thousands across the Middle East in upholding a distorted, self-serving version of Islam, and right-wing Hindus in India forge ahead unhindered in their attempts to forcibly reconvert Muslims and Christians. All for reviving a period in history each believes represents the glory days of their respective ideologies.

Why are they villains in the eyes of Washington while Zionists are victims? For perspective, nearly 100,000 Arabs have perished in Palestine since the 1920s riots according to conservative estimates by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. By comparison, Jewish fatalities account for less than a third of this number in the same period. These statistics suggest an overwhelming occupying force; not meek lambs running for cover from the big, bad Arab wolf.

The second part of my problem with Israeli claims is if we again in principle accept the Zionist religio-historical argument about Jerusalem, surely the Orthodox Jewish clergy that has the final word on religious matters always supported Israel’s claims without reservation, right?

Not so. The Zionist regime since independence has engaged in concerted efforts to discredit the anti-Israel movements within the clergy. These efforts have particularly targeted the followers of “Satmar Hasidism”, a sect of Judaism that condemns the creation of Israel. Among them, the “Neturei Karta” (guardians of the city) religious group continues to vocally oppose the Zionist state as a mockery of Torah and Talmudic laws.

In fact, Neturei Karta’s website states “the world must know that the Zionists have illegitimately seized the name Israel and have no right to speak in the name of the Jewish people!” But why would any Jewish religious group oppose the existence of Israel the “promised land”? Expressly when its political leaders openly use religion as the cover for illegal territorial expansion and to repeatedly violate the many U.N resolutions on Palestine?

In a 2013 interview, Rabbi Moshe Hirsc, a Neturei Karta senior leader, elaborated why “true Jews” don’t recognize Israel: “One of the principles of the faith teaches us that God will return the land to the Jewish people through His messiah in His good time. Any attempt to accelerate this redemption would bring disastrous consequences.”

Hence Israel, Hirsc declared, “is not a Jewish state. It is a state run by Jews, just like any company managed by Jews, but whose produce is not Jewish.” Consequently, the Zionist regime’s use of the Torah and Talmud to justify its illegal occupation of Arab lands in Palestine is laughable. Of course, the Zionists regularly mount smear campaigns against Neturei Karta and other critics, labelling them fringe lunatics hell-bent on reversing the gains of the Jewish diaspora or worse, Nazi sympathizers.

Nevertheless, Zionists cannot whitewash the broad dissent of mainstream Jewish religious scholars in 1947 on hearing news of Israel’s impending creation. Rabbi Yosef Dushinsky, then Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, in his written testimony to the U.N Special Committee on Palestine stated in no uncertain terms: “we furthermore wish to express our definite opposition to a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.”

Rabbi Dushinsky further explained why the clergy so opposed the creation of Israel. One, “a serious blunder was committed at the time [British Mandate] by recognizing first the leaders of Zionism and then the Jewish Agency as official representation of the Jewish population.”

Two, “from the time of King Solomon to our very days, the Holy Land was either united with Trans-Jordan or attached to Syria or Turkey. Western Palestine was never a single and independent entity and certainly a part of that cannot possibly constitute an independent state.” Lastly, “the basic reason for our opposition [to Israel] is that in prevailing circumstances, the officially recognized representation of the Jewish people does not consider the authority of the Holy Law as binding in the public affairs of the Jewish people. It is contrary to the wishes of God to create a Jewish State.”

On the issue of Jerusalem, Dushinsky insisted “Not to include Jerusalem in any state and not to parcel it into separate parts. Not to impose on the residents of Jerusalem the citizenship of any state, but solely the citizenship of the Holy City. And this city should be declared an open international city.” And the U.N declared exactly that via Resolution 194 in 1948, a resolution perpetually ignored by the Zionists.

As a final thought, the Jewish-Arab death match that emerged from Israel’s independence and promises to turn bloodier after Trump unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital seems to me a textbook example of misplaced anger following the Nazi pogroms of World War II. It is as Saudi King Abdul Aziz told U.S President F.D Roosevelt in 1945: “Let the Jews build their homeland on the best lands in Germany, not on the territory of Arabs who had nothing to do with what happened to them.”

The writer, S. Mubashir Noor is an Islamabad-based freelance journalist

TOTAL COMMENTS:- &nbsp 8

Today Mathina is known as Yathrip when Mohammed preached Islam.Yathrip "s inhabitants were Jews only.It was sheer religious fanaticism, Mohammed waged war against Jews because Jews had refused to embrance Islam.Jews who had survived left the Yathrip town and settled elsewhere.

Are Arabs now ready to handover the Yathrip cum Mathina town to Jews .

By dr.A.Anburaj - 2/14/2018 8:44:14 AM

".....In a 2013 interview, Rabbi Moshe Hirsc, a Neturei Karta senior leader, elaborated why “true Jews” don’t recognize Israel: “One of the principles of the faith teaches us that God will return the land to the Jewish people through His messiah in His good time. Any attempt to accelerate this redemption would bring disastrous consequences....”

That is the issue here. Not irrelevant diversions.

By Mubashir - 1/21/2018 5:49:27 PM

Without a just settlement this issue will continue to fester the region and be a powder keg for the whole world. Jews and Palestinians both have rights in Palestine. The UN Reolution 242 passed in 1967 offers the best hope of a just peace.

By Ghulam Mohiyuddin - 1/2/2018 11:24:41 PM

Israel, even if it is illegitimate constitute just 0.2% of Arabic land. Arabs should concentrate on their remaining 99.8% of land and emerge as a better force.

So stop crying about Jews and concentrate on your own affairs - dont find excuses for your own failures. By Raman - 1/2/2018 10:55:21 PM

Arabs have missed the bus. When five Arab countries attacked Israel, in 1948, one day after it was established by the UNO they failed to capture it. At that time Israel had only a small population. Again in the 1967 six day war they miserably failed. During the 1973 Yom Kippur war also they failed but gained some respect as Egypt poised to enter Israel, Israeli General Sharon’s unit went behind Egyptian’s line and that made a stalemate. Knowing they can never win over Israel, Egypt, with respect gained, agreed to the existence of Israel and singed the Camp David agreement, through President Jimmy Carter’s effort. Now without Egypt, Arab war is unthinkable. Israel is also grown up as a major arms exporter.

What to say about the Arab position (with 5 m sq miles and 380m population), who do not want to accept the existence of Israel (with 9000 sq. miles and 6m population), do not want to establish diplomatic exchanges with Israel, and want to solve the problem. After all, most of Jewish prophets mentioned in the Koran were born in Israel. Jews have 4000 years memory of Jerusalem, though they were exiled for 2000 years. Their 39 books of the Hebrew Bible speaks vividly of their existence. I don’t think any other race have such a nostalgia for the native country.

Bony M’s hit song ‘Rivers of Babylon’ was banned by the Arab countries. All the cassettes were confiscated. That song’s chorus from the Book of Psalms referring to the exiled Jewish peoples’ yearning (in 537 B.C) to returning to the land of Israel. The chorus is as follows:

“By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Ye-eah, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in thy sight”

Palestinians must learn to live in a federal set up and improve their shattered lives as many other minorities live in the world. Who will guarantee that Palestine after attaining statehood with three armed services, will not attack Israel on an issue just as Pakistan is doing for the last 70 year?

The Messiah wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44) and the situation remain still after 2000 years. Rather than allow the situation persists until the end of the world let the Israelites and Palestinians pray together the following prayer as they together sang carols last week on Christmas day.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

By Royalj - 1/2/2018 7:20:54 PM

Jerusalem belongs to Israel.Israel is a democratic country and Muslims have easy access to Al-Aksha Mosque easily.Hence Muslims would face no problem.Muslims plan to exterminate Jews from the face of earth, which is barbarious .Hence all the fuss.

By dr.A.Anburaj - 1/2/2018 5:42:48 AM

Yes hypocrate Pakistanis you used Islam to have Pakistani.
By Aayina - 1/2/2018 3:19:04 AM

I haven't read Article, but title itself is only enough to know the writer might be Pakistani.

I will find out tomorrow, there is only one country in the world that want to finish Isreal and India that is Pakistan. It continuously breed in every generation such hate mongers that belive no right to exist Jews and Hindus should be ruled by us.

Arabs also had to come agreement with Israel except Iran, but same illegimate Pakistanies talks illegitimate Israel.